We recently ran the ACA press release about the women's mentoring program. We thought we should ask one of the mentors a few questions about the program.

[303Cycling] Tell us about the mentoring program.
[Renee Eastman] The Women’s Mentoring Program is an initiative by the American Cycling Association to aid in the development of women cyclists during that transition from rider to racer. Entering those first few races is both intimidating and nerve wracking for almost anyone who decides to start racing. For this reason, the ACA has decided to designate several races each year as mentoring races, in order to ease this transition for women new to racing in several Category 4 criterium events.

In each mentoring race one or two experienced Category 1 and 2 women riders are available prior to the race, during the race, and after the race to answer questions, guide in tactics and skills, and provide an encouraging environment for riders to learn the new skills of racing. During these races the experienced racers ride along with the Category 4 racers as “mentors” and guide the women, during the races, on skills, such as, pack riding, taking turns at speed, and drafting. These mentors are also available after the race to answer questions and provide positive feedback for the new racers.

[303Cycling] What is the goal of the program?
[Renee Eastman] Our goal with this program is to provide an open, encouraging, learning environment for women who are interested in trying racing for the first time and for those who want to progress in their racing and learn more skills.

[303Cycling] How do you sign up and what is the fee?
[Renee Eastman] There are currently 3 ACA criterium races designated as mentoring races.

• Wheels of Thunder, 5/8/10, SW4 race at 8:45
• City Park, 6/6/10, SW4 race at 2:15
• Federal Center, 8/7/10, SW4 race at 1:52

Athletes that want to participate in the mentoring program need only to register for the Cat 4 Women’s race as they would normally. There is a race registration fee, but there is no extra fee for the mentoring program. This is a free program offered by the ACA.

Photo Credit: Sportifimages

Looking for 2012 Boulder Roubaix coverage

This year's edition of the Boulder Roubaix went off without a hitch. Big fields turned out to try their luck at the new course. I saw quite a few flat tires and some wrecks on the winding dirt roads north of Nelson Road. I think the 2010 course is harder than the original Boulder Roubaix course. Definitely more technical.
Men's field update
Men's field was lead for most of the race by a break of 3 which later turned out to the the podium. It was clear while viewing the race on hills on 55th that the Flying V guy and Tom Danielson were stronger than the Porsche rider as they dropped him twice on the climbs. In the final sprint the Porsche rider went first then Tom and he thought he could hold them off but in the then the man from down under took the win.

We ran the story on ACA Mega Racers but what about the average racer? The results below show the number of races completed, followed by the number of ACA ACA licensed racers. For example: 315 racers completed one race.

• 1 race: 315
• 2-5 races: 728
• 6-10 races: 624
• 11-20 races: 555
• 21-30 races: 198
• 31-40 races: 58
• 41- or more races: 21

To us, this information is very interesting. In 2009 there were approximately 3000 ACA licensed racers. With some simple calculations, the data shows that approximately 10% of licensed racers do only 1 race and about 50% do less than 10 races.

So, what were the most popular races that these single racers completed? The top five races that were completed by a 1 time finisher are listed below. (example: 19, 1 time finishers completed Mt Evans Hill Climb etc)

1. 19 Bob Cook Memorial - Mt Evans HC - Colorado Hill Climb Championships
2. 19 Frostbite Time Trial